Waste tax on schools sparks backlash

They warned that levy would consume already limited non-salary budget (NSB) allocated for day-to-day school expenses

RAWALPINDI:

In a bid to boost revenues, the government has imposed a Rs3,000 waste collection tax on all government and private schools under the Clean Punjab Programme.

Schools have begun receiving consolidated waste tax bills covering a four-month period from September to December, triggering strong protests from government schoolteachers and the All Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Association.

Under the Clean Punjab Programme, the government has so far failed to meet its waste tax collection targets. In the Rawalpindi Division alone, around 70 per cent of residents have not paid the levy. As a result, authorities have started issuing bills amounting to Rs16,500, including waste tax arrears and a monthly penalty of Rs300, to citizens, shopkeepers, schools and owners of plazas and malls.

Leaders of the Punjab Teachers Union and the Headmasters Association - Rana Liaquat, Basharat Iqbal Raja, Akhyan Gul and Hamid Ali Shah - said imposing a Rs3,000 waste tax per government school was unjust and discriminatory.

They warned that the levy would consume the already limited non-salary budget (NSB) allocated for day-to-day school expenses, bringing routine operations to a standstill. They demanded the immediate withdrawal of the waste tax on government schools.